Lao language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lao |
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| ພາສາລາວ, Phasa Lao | ||||
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| Native to | Laos Thailand (Isan) Cambodia (Stung Treng, Preah Vihear and Ratanakiri) |
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| Ethnicity | Lao Isan |
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| Native speakers | 30 million (date missing) | |||
| Language family |
Tai–Kadai
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| Dialects |
Northern Lao (Louang Phrabang Lao)
Northeastern Lao
Central Lao (Phuan)
Southern Lao
Western Lao
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| Writing system | Lao script in Laos Thai script in Thailand Thai and Lao Braille |
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| Official status | ||||
| Official language in |  Laos
 ASEAN |
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| Recognised minority language in |  Thailand Cambodia |
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| Regulated by | Educational Science Research Institute, Ministry of Education and Sports and Institute of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, National University of Laos |
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| Linguasphere | 47-AAA-c | |||
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Lao or Laotian is a language and is the official language of Laos. It is also spoken in the northeast part of Thailand. Lao, like the other languages of Laos, is written in an abugida writing system. The languages has variations, but the Vientiane dialect is considered the standard written form of Lao.
Lao and Thai are both Tai languages and are very similar to each other. In fact, speakers of northern Thai dialects and Lao claim that they can largely understand each other, making the dialects mutually intelligible.
Contents
History
Lao is one of the Tai languages, spoken in what is now northern Vietnam and southern China. Mongol invaders and expansion in China pushed the Tai people south towards India. Their language was influenced by other languages in the region like the Mon-Khmer and the Austronesian languages. The written form of Lao originally came from the Pali language in India. The script form was brought to the region by Buddhists about two thousand years ago.
Vocabulary
Lao has mainly native Lao words. Because of Buddhism, however, it has been influenced by other languages that contributed mostly religious terms. Lao has influenced Khmer and Thai and vice versa. The writing has many foreign loanwords, very similar to how Latin and Greek have influenced other European languages.
For politeness, pronouns (and more formal pronouns) are used, as well as ending statements with ແດ່ (dè) or ເດີ້ (deu). Negative statements are made more polite by ending with ດອກ (dok). The following are formal register examples.
- ຂອບໃຈຫຼາຍໆເດີ້ (khop chai lai lai deu) Thank you very much.
- ຂ້ານ້ອຍເຮັດບໍ່ໄດ້ດອກ (khanoi hét bo dai dok) I cannot.
- ໄຂປະຕູໃຫ້ແດ່ (khai pa too hai dè) Open the door, please.
Images for kids
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Wat Phra That Phanom in Nakhon Phanom. Built in the 16th century over earlier Khmer ruins when Isan was part of Lan Xang, the temple is an important place of pilgrimage, attracting Lao from Laos as well as Isan to its temple festivals.
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Temple mural of Wat Photaram in Maha Sarakham Province. Dating to the reign of Siamese Ruler Rama III (1788-1851), the writing is in the Tai Noi script, an old form of the Lao alphabet.
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A bilingual Lao-French street sign in Vientiane. Although the influence of French on the Lao language has waned considerably, hundreds of words of French origin are used in Laos.
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Lao script on a sign at Wat That Luang, Vientiane.
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An example of the Tai Tham alphabet formerly used in Laos for religious literature.
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A sutra in the Khom script. This Khmer script was used to write Buddhist, Brahmanic and ritual texts.
See also
In Spanish: Idioma lao para niños
